The Beginning of What Can Only Be a Soaring Year

Today for PA training we all tested out the Ropes Course at the Leif Ericson Day Camp. This included wearing a child-sized harness and participating in grounded team bonding activities and then rock climbing, walking the catwalk which was a log suspended in the air at about 30 feet and another activity which included walking up a ladder then up a vertical log, standing on top of the log and jumping off the log to attempt to reach a swinging bar.

I feel like this is an excellent way to begin my junior year in college and my second year as a PA. Carl told me the other day that I am going to have a phenomenal year and I know he is right. I have oodles of exciting things happening this year and I am very excited that the starting line is here!

80's Bowling Experience

Tonight all of Augie's PA's went bowling. Our staff dressed in 80's workout attire. This theme definitely has the stigma that it is only fun for girls. Our two guy PA's ignored that stigma, which included one of our guys wearing my shorts. I pretty much wore what I wear when I work out... now in 2011.We even walked, tall and proud, from our dorm to the bowling alley and relished in the looks we got from drivers passing by. Go us! I am loving the first days of my third year in Solbergio!

We definitely look like brother and sister here!

I Wish I Knew What Flamingos Say

As a PA one of the perks is to design a door dec that has each resident's name written and is posted on the outside of their dorm door. This year I designed my own flamingo and am deliriously pleased with how they turned out!

Woo Hoo!

My Mom and Her Camera

Just last week my mom bought herself quite the camera and has been using it as much as possible. The three of us always seem to be surrounded by color and her photos definitely capture our love and need for colorful lives. I also like that the majority of these photos were taken from the front steps of our house. She can find lovely photo ops anywhere!

One of my friends has modified the expression, "Whatever floats your boat" and has been asking people how their boat is throughout the day. When I was asked I responded that my boat was probably like the one in the Little Mermaid when she is floating along with turtles singing to her. I think the photos of the squirrels make them look like they are about to bring into song and dance. That would be great. 

One Of Us Is Married

The title of this post is still so weird to me.

My PA staff from Solberg last year packed the six of us (Laura, Molly, Jackie, myself, Carl and his girlfriend, Alyssa) into a Buick and travelled to the Cities last Friday for the wedding of our fellow PA, Nick to his now wife (!), Katie. The road trip was a reunion for our staff and we greatly enjoyed the looks from nearly every car that passed us and saw us stuffed into the car, three in front and three in back. Just a year ago we were working on bonding ourselves as a staff and getting to know one another. During PA training last year we played a lot of foosball, shot each other with nerf guns and they all locked me in my room with an ethernet cord. We had incredible dynamics as a staff and I greatly enjoyed having the role of a little sister for the first time in my life. These wonderful people quickly became my second family and they are what I think about when I think about Augie and how much I love everything about Augie.

Carl, Jackie and I

Jolly Green Giant!

My girls. Laura, Jackie, Molly, and I 

Jack-attack

Molly and I along with Carl

Jackie and Molly

Ooooooh!

He is basically my brother

My Solbergio Family! Laura, Jackie, Carl, Nick, Molly, and I

Nick and Katie! Or as I like to refer to them... KICK!

Typical...

Suuuuuuuuper Happy!

Molly and I got our groove thang on!

So did Nick and Carl!

We went to a movie after the reception!

Laura and I!

Laura, Jackie and I

I am so very excited for Nick and Katie and have to refrain myself from texting him during his honeymoon to tell him that. I gleefully exclaimed that he was married at his wedding to him about five times and stared at the ring now planted on his left ring finger. They will have an incredible life together and I can't wait to hear all about it when I show up at their apartment with Breadsmith bread and have him make me coffee!

Last Night In Spearfish

As I wrote the title of this post I cried a little. After spending the last 87 days of my summer here with my grandparents, Jackie and John, and Finn and Scout I have to go back to Sioux Falls. It is rather bittersweet because of course I am looking forward to going back to Sioux Falls and seeing everyone and having my whole busy life starting again, plus Nick and Katie's wedding, but this summer has been absolutely wonderful and I don't do well with leaving one place and going to another place no matter how exciting my next adventure may be. Aka, I am not good with goodbye's.

I spent today, my last day, putting up rain gutters and siding on a chicken coop all day with my grandpa. It was wonderful. Not only have I accomplished doing pull-ups this summer, I can now operate a nail gun, a John Deere Tractor, a riding lawn mower, a weed wacker, a power saw and can get a boat on and off its trailer. Basically there is nothing I can't do. 

Today offered perfect anecdotes to top off my summer in Spearfish. 

First of all, my grandpa almost electrocuted a duck and then I got in trouble for telling my grandma and Jackie about it. He accidentally tossed a cord into the duck's pond (little kid swimming pool) and luckily the duck scurried out quick enough. 

When we finally quit for the day after about ten hours at it my grandpa put on clean clothes which included bermuda-length denim shorts. He spent all of Sunday hemming his pants but he got one pair too short so he just shortened them even more to be quite jaunty bermudas. 

Then we were all looking online at a horse Jackie may buy. She questioned whether it was narcissistic being named Jackie to name her horse Jack. I say it's a great idea. She has found a beautiful gray horse and horses named Jackie Bee and Tee J Jackie Leola are in its lineage. She is obviously meant to have this horse. A horse by the name of Miss Boni Britches is also in its lineage which I think is symbolic for Brytten and again Jackie is obviously supposed to have this horse. I then asked my grandpa what he would name a horse if he had one. His response? Hi Ho Paint, Let's Get Where We Ain't 

I about died laughing. 

This morning John and I went to our last Barefoot Fitness workout together for the summer. It was kinda sad doing my last kettlebell swings with him. My friend Alan and I were Skyping a couple weeks ago and he asked me what the highlight of my summer has been. I could easily list off a hundred highlights but one that truly stands out is all the time I spent with John and the awesome things we did together particularly all of our hiking and backpacking in the Bighorns. 

This summer was truly wonderful. 

Jackie made me laugh so hard I snorted way too many times to count. She also made me spend too much money! She is basically one of the funniest people I know. Tonight we figured out that I had a s'more nearly every night this summer except for a week after Birdie died because I was too sad. That equates to about 79 s'mores. Holy Shit. 

I absolutely loved working at the fish hatchery and developed wonderful relationships with the summer volunteers and my boss. Last Friday night we had a potluck and bonfire to say goodbye to my boss, Renae and the first volunteers to leave. When I was saying goodbye to my favorite couple, Belinda and Lee, they both hugged me and said that it was like having their daughter with them for the summer. My boss gave me a D.C. Booth Fish Hatchery mug that is everything a coffee cup should be and turquoise, beaded, fish-shaped earrings. I love that I was able to create great friendships with the people I worked with for only three months. 

Sam, Camille and I had a grand old time this summer and I love that I got to take them to a water park for the first time and share in their first marshmallow-roasting experience!

Getting ready to go fishing and Camille is being a fart-blossom

Love her!

Spearfish has always been my favorite place in the world and this summer solidified that view even more.

I have loved writing this blog and although it is titled "Good at Summer" I will continue it into the school year because hell, I can be good at summer all year long! And I always have something to say. 

I spent a portion of every day in one of these this summer!

My theme for this summer and all summers is self-discovery and here it is: I am good at summer and good at being Sanna Joy. 

Granddaughter of Chicken Farmers

Last week I was introduced as, "the granddaughter of the woman who volunteers at the fish hatchery who gives us two dozen eggs each Tuesday."

Practically family.

All summer I have joked about how this summer is chicken-i-fied and I have become a seasonal chicken farmer. Well, I have sunk to a new low. Today I was collecting the eggs from the chicken coop and there were 16 that had to be brought in. Obviously I couldn't carry all of those in my two hands and the idea of taking two trips didn't enter my brain. But the idea of sticking eggs in my bra did. That's exactly what I did. I had four eggs in my bra and I awkwardly crossed my arms in front of my chest while holding the other twelve eggs and did a marching-band-like stroll (heel, toe!) back to the house discreetly so that the neighbors nor my grandparents, the true chicken farmers, would know of my odd circumstances. And yet, I chose to tell the entire Internet world.

Bawk, Bawk!

Joyful Trek

The only reason I can think of as to why it has taken me 9 whole days to write a blog post about my trip to the Bighorns with John and Finn is that is was far too phenomenal to accurately convey it with words and snapped photos. I will try of course, though!

The logical place to start is with the horrendous, boulderific road we had to drive up to get to the trailhead. John joked during his first trip to the Bighorns the week before that the road had taken his car's virginity. The road was incredibly steep and loaded with monsterous boulders. You know that feeling when you are ascending a rollercoaster and you are trudging upwards and you know that a steep drop that rattles your entire body is coming up? Well, this road felt like that. At times I closed my eyes tightly shut and other times I grasped my knee caps, probably to make sure they were still intact. John actually had to get out and examine how he was going to maneuver around certain boulders. When we finally reached a peaceful, flat meadow I said, "Wow, that would take a car's virginity." John said, "Can I quote you on that?" Absolutely.

Palette of the Wilderness


All summer long, during our various hikes John and I have tried to find my favorite colors, turquoise and purple mixed with his favorite color, green. We have found several purple flowers but turquoise seemed to be impossible. Until I got to the Bighorns.

Turquoise and Outdoorsy!

I could write a post on the colors alone. Blues were bluer and greens were greener. Even the gray of the mountains was striking. These colors can't be found in a Crayola box. In fact the crayon, "Forest Green" is highly inaccurate and dull in comparison to what we saw. The lakes were the clearest I have ever seen.

We also experienced 'Alpine Glow.' We don't actually know if that is the correct term for it but it worked. Alpine Glow is the light that spreads across the tops of the mountain during a sunset. It is pretty Alpine-Glowtastic! I wish I could bottle it up and put it on my windowsill.

Fine Dining


John prepared excellent meals for us and they were well worth the extra weight we carted in our packs. The first night for supper we had pasta with basil sauce and fresh zucchini, onions, and tomatoes with feta cheese and pine nuts. The next day we accidentally skipped lunch because I was too busy swimming in a lake so for supper we made up for it with wraps filled with homemade hummus that we cooled off by putting the bag in the rushing creek and fresh onions and tomatoes and shredded cheese. We also had what accidentally turned out to be refried bean soup. The beans didn't cool but the soup version was delicious and was topped with fresh veggies, seasoned chips and cheese. The next day we had lunch at what I referred to as a "Holy Shit" Lunch Spot. We ate wraps made with peanut butter and banana and mango slices as we stared at the mountain that loomed before us. That night for supper we had pasta with tomato sauce and fresh veggies. For breakfast every morning we had granola with warm powdered milk topped with fresh and dehydrated fruits including bananas, strawberries, cherries, raisins, cranberries, blackberries, and blueberries. Hot tea was part of every meal and turned out to be the perfect backpacking beverage, other than water of course. 

"Holy Shit" Lunch Spot

Sitting by a mountain

Hot tea and Finn

Pinkies up!

Love this photo! The cup is reflecting the ground and the tea is reflecting the trees and the sky!

The first day we hiked to Lake 1 of Seven Brother's Lakes and set up our camp just up the hill from the lake. The seven lakes of Seven Brother's Lakes are all fairly close together and are distinguished only by number. I was slightly disturbed by this and thought they should be named after actual brothers. Not having an actual brother myself I dubbed it Carl. He is basically my brother!

Lake Carl 

Lake Carl 

Lake Carl 

Also on the first night I noticed this cloud. It made me think of Birdie and I knew without a doubt she was watching me from Dog Heaven.

The Birdie Cloud

Little Tent in the Woods


This summer has been full of accomplishments. Setting up my own tent made the list during this trip! This summer has also been filled with bells. Several years ago when a store in Deadwood was closing John bought these garlands of bells with the intent of hanging them in a campsite. That is exactly what we did!

Finn was supervising

Masterpiece

Bells hanging from a tree!

Morning Yoga


The first morning I woke up really early and took a stroll along the lake (Lake Carl). I traipsed across some rocks until I made the leap to a giant flat rock that turned out to be perfect for some early morning yoga. Yoga in the woods is sublime!

Downward Dog and Finn!

Warrior and Finn!

A Swim in an Alpine Lake

The second day we hiked to all seven of the Seven Brother's Lakes. I love lakes and especially lakes perfectly clear that reflect snow-capped mountains and have minnows that swim right up to my toes. The seventh lake had a nice sandy beach and I swam in in fully clothed in my hiking gear. Finn joined me but I ventured out further than he did. It was the coldest water I have ever swam in but it was totally worth it!

Moose

Moose became my new favorite animal! After the very first river crossing the first day we were sitting putting our hiking boots back on when a huge moose galloped in front of us about twenty feet away. The moose then ran to a meadow and we were able to see it eat through the trees. The third day we were walking to Deer Lake when John thought he saw the head of a moose. I thought it was just a stump until the stump's ears moved. We then watched the moose swim across the entire lake. Then when we were leaving after going down the road from hell we saw a moose eating not too far off the trail. We were able to drive up and get very close. We didn't stay too long because eventually I noticed the moose's baby eating alongside her. 

I always thought it was funny that so many people decorate their homes with moose. I understand it now and in my future home I will have one moose-embellished room among all the turquoise. 

River Crossing

We had to do multiple river crossing during the trip. Luckily my feet are the length of an average MAN'S foot so I was able to use John's Keens. On the day that we hiked through rain and what I deemed corn kernel sized hail we encountered a crossing that had a huge tree perfect for humans to trek across. Finn wasn't so keen on the idea and John had to brave the horrifically cold water for his dog. 

The entire trip was truly an amazing experience. When John and I were getting ready for this trip he kept saying that it was like being in a postcard. That description turned out to be so true. Life is simply more beautiful out there and I can't wait to go on my next backpacking trip!

Shut up...

What John described as, "fucking vast"

There is more to the Great Outdoors than shopping at the Great Outdoors Store. 

I have new favorite things about eleven times a day but here are some of them that I discovered during the trip...

Seeing fish jump in a lake. Also, I think fish jumping is similar to lightning. They never strike the same place twice. 

Lakes reflecting mountains.

Alpine Glow.

Alpine Glow reflected in mountains

Moose

Seeing moose swim in a lake 

Wildflowers growing near snow.

Waterfalls on a mountain.